Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46
#77B Solemnities B Context (6th Sunday in Ordinary Time B)-
The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
"If someone has on his skin a scab or pustule or blotch
which appears to be the sore of leprosy,
he shall be brought to Aaron, the priest,
or to one of the priests among his descendants.
(If) the man is leprous and unclean,
the priest shall declare him unclean
by reason of the sore on his head.
"The one who bears the sore of leprosy
shall keep his garments rent and his head bare,
and shall muffle his beard;
he shall cry out, 'Unclean, unclean!'
As long as the sore is on him he shall declare himself unclean,
since he is in fact unclean.
He shall dwell apart, making his abode outside the camp."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Lv 13:1-2, 44-46
This section of Leviticus, part of the “sanitary laws,” deals with various skin blemishes. Should a person develop a lesion of the sort described, the person was declared “unclean,” in some cases ritually unclean, meaning they could not participate in communal worship. In other cases it disqualified the affected person from association with the community as a whole. The Hebrew term translated as leprosy does not refer to Hansen’s disease, which we call leprosy. The rabbinical interpretation was any lesion or sore on the skin.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18
#224 Weekday Years I & II Context (Monday of the First Week of Lent)
The LORD said to Moses,
“Speak to the whole assembly of the children of Israel and tell them:
Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.
“You shall not steal.
You shall not lie or speak falsely to one another.
You shall not swear falsely by my name,
thus profaning the name of your God.
I am the Lord.
“You shall not defraud or rob your neighbor.
You shall not withhold overnight the wages of your day laborer.
You shall not curse the deaf,
or put a stumbling block in front of the blind,
but you shall fear your God.
I am the Lord.
“You shall not act dishonestly in rendering judgment.
Show neither partiality to the weak nor deference to the mighty,
but judge your fellow men justly.
You shall not go about spreading slander among your kin;
nor shall you stand by idly when your neighbor’s life is at stake.
I am the Lord.
“You shall not bear hatred for your brother in your heart.
Though you may have to reprove him,
do not incur sin because of him.
Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your fellow countrymen.
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
I am the Lord.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Lv 19:1-2, 11-18
This passage describes the rules of conduct from Leviticus, the third book of the Torah or Pentateuch. The book was so named because its contents are almost entirely legislative, probably written by and for the priestly tribe of Levi.
This selection is part of what is known as the “Code of Legal Holiness.” Echoed here are statutes that incorporate and expand the Ten Commandments, the Decalogue. These verses establish the rules for relationships with others. They begin with a phrase that is repeated many times in Leviticus: “Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.”
The “code” continues with the ban against stealing, lying, defrauding, or having unfair business relationships. Perhaps most significant in this passage is v. 18b: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Christ uses this section of the law in tandem with the first commandment in the Decalogue as the “Great Commandment.” While it is defined by Mosaic Law as applying only to interactions with one’s countrymen, Jesus defines it to include even our enemies.
CCC: Lv 19:2 2811; Lv 19:13 2434; Lv 19:15 1807; Lv 19:18 2055
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18
#79A Sundays A Context (7th Sunday in Ordinary Time A)
#737 Commons Context (Common of Holy Men and Women)
The LORD said to Moses,
“Speak to the whole Israelite community and tell them:
Be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am holy.
“You shall not bear hatred for your brother or sister in your heart.
Though you may have to reprove your fellow citizen,
do not incur sin because of him.
Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against any of your people.
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
I am the LORD.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Lv 19:1-2, 17-18
This passage describes the rules of conduct from Leviticus, the third book of the Torah or Pentateuch. The book was so named because its contents are almost entirely legislative in nature, probably written by and for the priestly tribe of Levi. The instruction is part of what is known as the “Code of Legal Holiness.” Echoed here are statutes that incorporate and expand the “Ten Commandments,” the Decalogue.
These verses establish the rules for relationships with others. They begin with a phrase that is repeated many times in Leviticus: “Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God am holy.”
Perhaps most significant in this passage is v. 18b: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Christ uses this section of the law in tandem with the first commandment in the Decalogue as the “Great Commandment.” While Mosaic Law defines it as applying only to interactions with one’s countrymen, Jesus defines it to include all peoples, even our enemies.
CCC: Lv 19:2 2811; Lv 19:18 2055
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leviticus 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34b-37
#405 Weekday Year I Context (Friday of the 17th Week in Ordinary Time)
The LORD said to Moses,
"These are the festivals of the LORD which you shall celebrate
at their proper time with a sacred assembly.
The Passover of the LORD falls on the fourteenth day of the first month,
at the evening twilight.
The fifteenth day of this month is the LORD's feast of Unleavened Bread.
For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.
On the first of these days you shall hold a sacred assembly
and do no sort of work.
On each of the seven days you shall offer an oblation to the LORD.
Then on the seventh day you shall again hold a sacred assembly
and do no sort of work."
The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the children of Israel and tell them:
When you come into the land which I am giving you,
and reap your harvest,
you shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest
to the priest, who shall wave the sheaf before the LORD
that it may be acceptable for you.
On the day after the sabbath the priest shall do this.
"Beginning with the day after the sabbath,
the day on which you bring the wave-offering sheaf,
you shall count seven full weeks,
and then on the day after the seventh week, the fiftieth day,
you shall present the new cereal offering to the LORD.
"The tenth of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement,
when you shall hold a sacred assembly and mortify yourselves
and offer an oblation to the LORD.
"The fifteenth day of this seventh month is the LORD's feast of Booths,
which shall continue for seven days.
On the first day there shall be a sacred assembly,
and you shall do no sort of work.
For seven days you shall offer an oblation to the LORD,
and on the eighth day you shall again hold a sacred assembly
and offer an oblation to the LORD.
On that solemn closing you shall do no sort of work.
"These, therefore, are the festivals of the LORD
on which you shall proclaim a sacred assembly,
and offer as an oblation to the LORD burnt offerings and cereal offerings,
sacrifices and libations, as prescribed for each day."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Lv 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34b-37
This reading from the Book of Leviticus comes from the section identified as “Code of Legal Holiness.” It is a calendar of celebrations paralleled by another calendar from the priestly tradition, in Numbers 28–29. Non-priestly resumes of festal and holy observances are found in Exodus 23:10–17; 34:18–24 and Deuteronomy 16:1–17. [1] The prescriptions of celebrations mentioned recall the various saving works of God either generally through his act of creation and the gift of life, or actively through intervention on behalf of the faithful.
"It deals first with the sabbath, which becomes the paradigm for all the other feasts, especially as far as rest is concerned. Such importance was given to what could or could not be done on the sabbath that all sorts of absurd and formalistic exaggerations developed. More than once Jesus criticized the severe interpretations devised by the scribes--a complicated and intolerable casuistry (cf. Matthew 15:1-9; 23:41; Acts 15:10)." [2]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leviticus 25:1,8-17
#406 Weekday Year I Context (Saturday of the 17th Week in Ordinary Time)
The LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai,
“Seven weeks of years shall you count–seven times seven years–
so that the seven cycles amount to forty-nine years.
Then, on the tenth day of the seventh month, let the trumpet resound;
on this, the Day of Atonement, the trumpet blast shall re-echo
throughout your land.
This fiftieth year you shall make sacred
by proclaiming liberty in the land for all its inhabitants.
It shall be a jubilee for you,
when every one of you shall return to his own property,
every one to his own family estate.
In this fiftieth year, your year of jubilee,
you shall not sow, nor shall you reap the aftergrowth
or pick the grapes from the untrimmed vines.
Since this is the jubilee, which shall be sacred for you,
you may not eat of its produce,
except as taken directly from the field.
“In this year of jubilee, then,
every one of you shall return to his own property.
Therefore, when you sell any land to your neighbor
or buy any from him, do not deal unfairly.
On the basis of the number of years since the last jubilee
shall you purchase the land from your neighbor;
and so also, on the basis of the number of years for crops,
shall he sell it to you.
When the years are many, the price shall be so much the more;
when the years are few, the price shall be so much the less.
For it is really the number of crops that he sells you.
Do not deal unfairly, then; but stand in fear of your God.
I, the LORD, am your God.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Lv 25:1, 8-17
The establishment of the jubilee (taken from the Hebrew word yobel or “ram's horn” blown in response to the instruction) was important for preserving economic equilibrium among the Israelites. The rule was that land had to be returned to its original owner in the jubilee year. According to later prophets who denounced those who did not abide by this law, the people did not follow this law very well. The whole concept was that the land was a divine gift, and those to whom it was given were to hold it in trust for the Lord. Featured prominently is the use of seven, the “perfect number,” in Hebrew numerology.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] See NAB footnote on Leviticus 23:1ff
[2] The Navarre Bible: “Pentateuch”, Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2003, p. 495
#77B Solemnities B Context (6th Sunday in Ordinary Time B)-
The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
"If someone has on his skin a scab or pustule or blotch
which appears to be the sore of leprosy,
he shall be brought to Aaron, the priest,
or to one of the priests among his descendants.
(If) the man is leprous and unclean,
the priest shall declare him unclean
by reason of the sore on his head.
"The one who bears the sore of leprosy
shall keep his garments rent and his head bare,
and shall muffle his beard;
he shall cry out, 'Unclean, unclean!'
As long as the sore is on him he shall declare himself unclean,
since he is in fact unclean.
He shall dwell apart, making his abode outside the camp."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Lv 13:1-2, 44-46
This section of Leviticus, part of the “sanitary laws,” deals with various skin blemishes. Should a person develop a lesion of the sort described, the person was declared “unclean,” in some cases ritually unclean, meaning they could not participate in communal worship. In other cases it disqualified the affected person from association with the community as a whole. The Hebrew term translated as leprosy does not refer to Hansen’s disease, which we call leprosy. The rabbinical interpretation was any lesion or sore on the skin.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18
#224 Weekday Years I & II Context (Monday of the First Week of Lent)
The LORD said to Moses,
“Speak to the whole assembly of the children of Israel and tell them:
Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.
“You shall not steal.
You shall not lie or speak falsely to one another.
You shall not swear falsely by my name,
thus profaning the name of your God.
I am the Lord.
“You shall not defraud or rob your neighbor.
You shall not withhold overnight the wages of your day laborer.
You shall not curse the deaf,
or put a stumbling block in front of the blind,
but you shall fear your God.
I am the Lord.
“You shall not act dishonestly in rendering judgment.
Show neither partiality to the weak nor deference to the mighty,
but judge your fellow men justly.
You shall not go about spreading slander among your kin;
nor shall you stand by idly when your neighbor’s life is at stake.
I am the Lord.
“You shall not bear hatred for your brother in your heart.
Though you may have to reprove him,
do not incur sin because of him.
Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your fellow countrymen.
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
I am the Lord.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Lv 19:1-2, 11-18
This passage describes the rules of conduct from Leviticus, the third book of the Torah or Pentateuch. The book was so named because its contents are almost entirely legislative, probably written by and for the priestly tribe of Levi.
This selection is part of what is known as the “Code of Legal Holiness.” Echoed here are statutes that incorporate and expand the Ten Commandments, the Decalogue. These verses establish the rules for relationships with others. They begin with a phrase that is repeated many times in Leviticus: “Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.”
The “code” continues with the ban against stealing, lying, defrauding, or having unfair business relationships. Perhaps most significant in this passage is v. 18b: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Christ uses this section of the law in tandem with the first commandment in the Decalogue as the “Great Commandment.” While it is defined by Mosaic Law as applying only to interactions with one’s countrymen, Jesus defines it to include even our enemies.
CCC: Lv 19:2 2811; Lv 19:13 2434; Lv 19:15 1807; Lv 19:18 2055
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18
#79A Sundays A Context (7th Sunday in Ordinary Time A)
#737 Commons Context (Common of Holy Men and Women)
The LORD said to Moses,
“Speak to the whole Israelite community and tell them:
Be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am holy.
“You shall not bear hatred for your brother or sister in your heart.
Though you may have to reprove your fellow citizen,
do not incur sin because of him.
Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against any of your people.
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
I am the LORD.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Lv 19:1-2, 17-18
This passage describes the rules of conduct from Leviticus, the third book of the Torah or Pentateuch. The book was so named because its contents are almost entirely legislative in nature, probably written by and for the priestly tribe of Levi. The instruction is part of what is known as the “Code of Legal Holiness.” Echoed here are statutes that incorporate and expand the “Ten Commandments,” the Decalogue.
These verses establish the rules for relationships with others. They begin with a phrase that is repeated many times in Leviticus: “Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God am holy.”
Perhaps most significant in this passage is v. 18b: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Christ uses this section of the law in tandem with the first commandment in the Decalogue as the “Great Commandment.” While Mosaic Law defines it as applying only to interactions with one’s countrymen, Jesus defines it to include all peoples, even our enemies.
CCC: Lv 19:2 2811; Lv 19:18 2055
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leviticus 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34b-37
#405 Weekday Year I Context (Friday of the 17th Week in Ordinary Time)
The LORD said to Moses,
"These are the festivals of the LORD which you shall celebrate
at their proper time with a sacred assembly.
The Passover of the LORD falls on the fourteenth day of the first month,
at the evening twilight.
The fifteenth day of this month is the LORD's feast of Unleavened Bread.
For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.
On the first of these days you shall hold a sacred assembly
and do no sort of work.
On each of the seven days you shall offer an oblation to the LORD.
Then on the seventh day you shall again hold a sacred assembly
and do no sort of work."
The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the children of Israel and tell them:
When you come into the land which I am giving you,
and reap your harvest,
you shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest
to the priest, who shall wave the sheaf before the LORD
that it may be acceptable for you.
On the day after the sabbath the priest shall do this.
"Beginning with the day after the sabbath,
the day on which you bring the wave-offering sheaf,
you shall count seven full weeks,
and then on the day after the seventh week, the fiftieth day,
you shall present the new cereal offering to the LORD.
"The tenth of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement,
when you shall hold a sacred assembly and mortify yourselves
and offer an oblation to the LORD.
"The fifteenth day of this seventh month is the LORD's feast of Booths,
which shall continue for seven days.
On the first day there shall be a sacred assembly,
and you shall do no sort of work.
For seven days you shall offer an oblation to the LORD,
and on the eighth day you shall again hold a sacred assembly
and offer an oblation to the LORD.
On that solemn closing you shall do no sort of work.
"These, therefore, are the festivals of the LORD
on which you shall proclaim a sacred assembly,
and offer as an oblation to the LORD burnt offerings and cereal offerings,
sacrifices and libations, as prescribed for each day."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Lv 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34b-37
This reading from the Book of Leviticus comes from the section identified as “Code of Legal Holiness.” It is a calendar of celebrations paralleled by another calendar from the priestly tradition, in Numbers 28–29. Non-priestly resumes of festal and holy observances are found in Exodus 23:10–17; 34:18–24 and Deuteronomy 16:1–17. [1] The prescriptions of celebrations mentioned recall the various saving works of God either generally through his act of creation and the gift of life, or actively through intervention on behalf of the faithful.
"It deals first with the sabbath, which becomes the paradigm for all the other feasts, especially as far as rest is concerned. Such importance was given to what could or could not be done on the sabbath that all sorts of absurd and formalistic exaggerations developed. More than once Jesus criticized the severe interpretations devised by the scribes--a complicated and intolerable casuistry (cf. Matthew 15:1-9; 23:41; Acts 15:10)." [2]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leviticus 25:1,8-17
#406 Weekday Year I Context (Saturday of the 17th Week in Ordinary Time)
The LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai,
“Seven weeks of years shall you count–seven times seven years–
so that the seven cycles amount to forty-nine years.
Then, on the tenth day of the seventh month, let the trumpet resound;
on this, the Day of Atonement, the trumpet blast shall re-echo
throughout your land.
This fiftieth year you shall make sacred
by proclaiming liberty in the land for all its inhabitants.
It shall be a jubilee for you,
when every one of you shall return to his own property,
every one to his own family estate.
In this fiftieth year, your year of jubilee,
you shall not sow, nor shall you reap the aftergrowth
or pick the grapes from the untrimmed vines.
Since this is the jubilee, which shall be sacred for you,
you may not eat of its produce,
except as taken directly from the field.
“In this year of jubilee, then,
every one of you shall return to his own property.
Therefore, when you sell any land to your neighbor
or buy any from him, do not deal unfairly.
On the basis of the number of years since the last jubilee
shall you purchase the land from your neighbor;
and so also, on the basis of the number of years for crops,
shall he sell it to you.
When the years are many, the price shall be so much the more;
when the years are few, the price shall be so much the less.
For it is really the number of crops that he sells you.
Do not deal unfairly, then; but stand in fear of your God.
I, the LORD, am your God.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Lv 25:1, 8-17
The establishment of the jubilee (taken from the Hebrew word yobel or “ram's horn” blown in response to the instruction) was important for preserving economic equilibrium among the Israelites. The rule was that land had to be returned to its original owner in the jubilee year. According to later prophets who denounced those who did not abide by this law, the people did not follow this law very well. The whole concept was that the land was a divine gift, and those to whom it was given were to hold it in trust for the Lord. Featured prominently is the use of seven, the “perfect number,” in Hebrew numerology.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] See NAB footnote on Leviticus 23:1ff
[2] The Navarre Bible: “Pentateuch”, Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2003, p. 495
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